Ponsonby News recently took a walk around the St Columba Church grounds in Surrey Crescent with vicar, The Reverend Canon Brent Swann.
Way back off the road is the beautiful old church, built in 1931, a four bedroom vicarage currently near the end of a refurbishment upgrade, an iconic labyrinth which features in international tourist publications, and is a centre for both vigorous youth basketball games, children on bikes, or Grey Lynn people quietly contemplating as they stroll through the tranquil grounds that surround the old church. There is a lovely old pohutukawa tree, now played on by the children and grandchildren of St Columba parishioners.
The Valerie Lagorio Labyrinth plaque says, “a place to meditate and be.” Many a local gets sustenance and peace of mind just being in this peaceful environment, maybe with a few quiet prayers thrown in.
There is also a thriving vegetable garden, where locals can have a plot, and the church can feed hungry locals. On 26 and 27 August, St Columba will hold a fundraiser - The Clay Works Potters’ Market and Community Day.
This fundraising day was highly successful at its inaugural event last year, and planning is well underway to make the 2016 event even more successful. This year will feature a Twilight Market on Friday 26 August from 3-8pm, and the Day Market on Saturday 27 August from 9am to 4pm.
The hall will be bursting with pottery from established and emerging Auckland potters. It will be a wonderful opportunity to buy pieces that are normally difficult to access at reasonable prices. Think Christmas!
In the grounds will be stalls of Pacific food and craft, children’s activities, coffee, cakes and slices, and in the church there will be art on display and for sale, as well as live music from a diverse range of local musicians throughout Saturday. We urge our Ponsonby News readers to support this community event.
St Columba is a multicultural community of Christians who reach out to the Grey Lynn community. There are new parishioners from the new apartments near by, and there is a hugely positive feeling that this little church is beginning to grow again after a period of relative stagnation.
St Columba has always had a mission to serve the poor and marginalised from its beginnings a century ago, and Brent Swann welcomes new local residents to visit and join the congregation, who sing in Maori, Samoan and Tongan, as well as English.
Pastoral care may sound like an old fashioned word, but the highly-personable Brent Swann with his tikanga Maori knowledge, his narrative therapy training, and his team of skilled helpers including Talau Hoeft the Tongan priest, Brent’s wife Huia, also a narrative therapist, and Clinical Psychologist Dr Christina Faalogo-Lilo, know the importance of pastoral care, and they don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. Long may they have that opportunity to serve the Grey Lynn community, which they do so well. (JOHN ELLIOTT)